DAIRY ASSOCIATION. 8ol 



shape of corn, oats, hay, pasture, etc., and make therefrom a vakiable 

 product, milk, and her value in the dairy herd will depend primarily 

 upon the efficiency with which she is able to bring about this trans- 

 formation of raw products. The question is, how are we able to 

 select animals possessing this desired ability? Is it possible from the 

 external form of an animal to predict in any certain degree the ability 

 of that animal to produce milk and butter from the food consumed ? 

 In answer to this question, it may be said with considerable assurance 

 that under certain conditions and within certain well known limits 

 we can judge of the value of any animal for the production of milk 

 and butter. 



Before going any further, it may be well to consider brieflly how 

 we have . come by this knowledge. In the beginning man selected ani- 

 mals valuable for his use, and by continuous selection developed 

 breeds of animals that possess certain characteristics. For example, 

 it was soon discovered that animals were able to produce a valuable 

 product, meat, that was much sought after for food, other animals 

 yielded milk, other animals wool or hair which might be used for 

 clothing. As man developed in reasoning powers, he observed that 

 those animals which were mftst vakiable for beef had a certain form 

 and those which were selected for a long time because of their effic- 

 iency as milk producers, had always present certain essential char- 

 acteristics. Thus at the present time, standing as we do at the end 

 of these efforts to improve the domestic animals, and being able to 

 observe the results of careful selection through long periods, we are 

 able to see that animals which produce any certain product in abund- 

 ance have associated or correlated characters that are always present. 

 Animals that are selected for speed have small trim legs and deep 

 chests, generally with sloping haunches and are in most cases of 

 relatively small size; on the other hand, those animals that have been 

 selected for draft purposes are larger, coarser, with coarser bones 

 and joints and often great vigor of constitution. In animals that 

 have been selected because of their efficiency in producing milk and 

 butter for a great many generations, we always find in the best ani- 

 mals a certain type or conformation. 



